Missy Franklin competes at her first big show since turning pro and signing with Speedo.
The big question is whether or not Missy will show up at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan. Some doubt Missy after her 2014 Pan Pacific Championships performance, but she suffered from back spasms, and then came roaring back the following spring leading her Cal Gold Bears to an NCAA Team Title.
While I’ve had my own worries about Missy’s lean racing Pro Swim Series season, it’s foolish to question a swim star with her track record, her World Championships history.
2015 World Championships Predictions:
We will not see a repeat of the 2013 World Championships, the best performance of her career, 6 gold medals.
Missy wins gold in the 200 back, fighting off Katinka Hosszu.
Gold in the 100 back.
Gold in the 4×200 free relay.
Gold in the 4×100 medley relay.
Silver in the 4×100 free relay.
200 free is a tough call, but I’m going with Ledecky for the gold (despite the 1500 hanging over her), and silver for Missy.
Looking ahead, I see Missy back to her 2013 level by the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Our sources tell us she’s training harder than ever back in Colorado under Coach Todd Schmitz.
What are your Missy Franklin predictions for World Championships?
You can follow Missy Franklin on Twitter here.
Like Missy Franklin on Facebook here.
RECENT EPISODES
This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.
DJR I agree. Missy’s start is her weakness in the 100 m events. Yes seebohm has improved but she isn’t 100 % for this meet herself either. I am
going to be much more realistic and conservative with my predictions:
100 free: 6th-8th
200 free: 3rd or 4th
100 back: 3rd
200 back: 1st-3rd
4×1 free: 2nd
4×2 free: 1st
4×1 medley: 1st or 2nd
Are you kidding! You really haven’t been paying attention for the past 4 years. 13 Olympic and World Golds, 3 world records, 2 American Records, 5 NCAA titles, NCAA Swimmer and Athlete of the Year.
She just turned 20 years old. There is nothing in her past or even her present that would deserve such a poor performance prediction. Big mistake to bet against a proven superstar.
I think the most interesting part of this video was the statement by Mel that his sources tell him Missy has been working harder in Colorado this summer than she has the last two years at Cal! Perhaps that is only due to her academic responsibilities, but it does make me wonder how well Missy will be able to handle the number of races she will have to complete in Kazan, including multiple races within the same session.
One thing that does not seem to have improved at Cal is Missy’s backstroke start. She is consistently 1/2 body length behind her competitors after her starts. In the 200 she has time to catch-up, but in the 100 she has… Read more »
missy will be a lock for gold in the 100/200back , will win a very tightly contested 200free , finish a closed third 100free in 53flat; won’t predict relays. Depends on who has more adrenaline on the day
I think based on the limited meets we have seen her swim this year these predictions are extremely optimistic. Given how bad her start was in the APS meet I don’t see how she can medal let alone win in any of the 100 events. Of course she never had a good start but u would think she would be starting better after two years in college
http://www.mutilus.com/picture.php?/2110/category/10
Not sure why you would pick Ledecky over Franklin in the 200 free. The best comparison this year would be Ledecky’s State meet and Missy’s NCAA’s, both in SCY. Granted Missy did a full taper for that meet and Ledecky probably trained through hers, but still, Missy was and eye-popping 2.5 seconds faster. Four fewer turns in LCM over the same distance will actually benefit a lady is tall as she is. I am going with Franklin.
4 fewer turns would make it lean towards the distance swimmer would it not? and its not same distance yards are shorter than M. Granted, yes Missy is taller, and that helps a lot. But with how Katie has performed in the 2 free I think she has something she wants to prove to herself. not sure Mels reasoning.
If someone is going to beat Missy, its not going to be Ledecky. I have a hard time believing a distance swimmer is going to drop nearly a second in the 200free until she drops the 1500 from the schedule (Rio).
Here are my predictions:
200 back: Gold
200 free: narrow silver to Ledecky
100 back: bronze
800 FR: Gold
400 MR: Gold
400 FR: Silver to Aussies